After making a fortune at the Gamble Stone Festival, Zhang Jun no longer cared about money. He could make more money if necessary, but he should not snub his relatives.

The big party lasted until the evening. Relatives and friends went back to their own home, and only the family of Zhang Jun’s third uncle and the youngest paternal uncle stayed here. The goal of the third aunt was very clear, and that was to obtain Zhang Jun’s forgiveness.

Zhang Guoqiang, Zhang Jun’s youngest paternal uncle, was just 30 years old. He was brought up by Zhang Guozhong, Zhang Jun’s father. Therefore, Zhang Guoqiang had a deep affection for Zhang Jun’s family and would come to live in their house for a few days when he was at leisure.

Back at home, Yi Zhu, Zhang Jun’s third aunt, actively helped his mother Lu Hongmei clean up and called her the eldest sister kindly. This made Zhang Jun’s family very unaccustomed. Lu Jianjun, Zhang Jun’s third uncle, chatted intermittently with Zhang Guozhong.

Lu Hongmei finally couldn’t help wondering, and she quietly pulled Zhang Jun into the kitchen and asked him while washing the vegetables, “Son, your third aunt seems to have suddenly become another person. She apologized to me as soon as she arrived at our house yesterday, and she brought many gifts, which are worth tens of thousands yuan.”

Zhang Jun knew that this was Lu Jianjun’s idea, so he said, “Mom, just accept the gift. You need not be embarrassed. That’s her kindness.”

Lu Hongmei thought about it and shook her head, “No, I’m very clear about what a kind of person your third aunt is. She can’t do such a thing. There must be something wrong.”

Zhang Jun shrugged, “I don’t know. Mom, think about it yourself.” He was about to leave when he finished his words, but Lu Hongmei stopped him. Lu Hongmei patted him and said, “Wait, I haven’t asked you yet. You went out once and won a lottery of five million yuan. Tell me, what was going on?”

Zhang Jun felt embarrassed. He was most afraid that his mother would ask about this, and he said quickly, “Who knows. I bought a lottery ticket on a sudden impulse, and then I actually won the prize. Lucky me.”

Then Lu Hongmei smiled and said, “You are so great, my son. You can win a prize the first time you buy a lottery ticket, which means that you are favored by luck.”

Zhang Jun nodded again and again.

Then Lu Hongmei said, “With the money, the life of our family is finally getting better. Your youngest paternal uncle has just been admitted to the civil service of Donghai, and I think he will probably buy a house in Donghai in the future. The money can help us.”

Zhang Jun was overjoyed, “He was admitted to the civil service? Being of Donghai?”

Lu Hongmei laughed and said, “There is no need of lying. If you don’t believe me, go to ask him yourself.”

Zhang Jun ran back to the living room. He had his arm around his youngest paternal uncle’s shoulders and asked with a smile, “Uncle, I heard that you have been admitted to the Donghai Civil Service.”

Zhang Guoqiang was about the same height as Zhang Jun. He had a square face and thick straight eyebrows and wore the glasses with thick frames. He often looked serious, but Zhang Jun knew that in fact his uncle was quite shrewd. Faced with Zhang Guoqiang, Zhang Jun often stood to lose when he was a child.

Zhang Jun’s grandparents died at young ages, and Zhang Guoqiang became an orphan when he was two years old. It was Zhang Guozhong, the father of Zhang Jun, who raised him up. Zhang Guoqiang was sensible and hard-working since childhood. After graduating from the middle school, he was admitted to the First High School of Qinghe County, and then he was admitted to First University in Jingdu with his score ranked eighth in the province. He got a first-class scholarship every year in his university.

In addition, Zhang Guoqiang became the vice-chairman of the student union when he was a sophomore, and he made the campus belle his girlfriend and was an influential man at First University in Jingdu.

In short, his youngest paternal uncle was a great figure in Zhang Jun’s eyes since his childhood. No matter how good Zhang Jun’s performance was, it would be overshadowed by his uncle, and so Zhang Jun’s father often asked Zhang Jun to take his uncle as his role model.

Zhang Guoqiang adjusted his glasses and said affectedly, “Well, I’m too smart that I just passed the exam so easily.”

Zhang Jun seized Zhang Guoqiang by his throat fiercely and shouted, “Enough! Drop the act!”

They always played around like this since childhood, so Zhang Guoqiang was used to it and reacted quickly. The two immediately made a mess. Until Zhang Guozhong coughed heavily, the two calmed down silently.

Zhang Jun snatched a pack of cigarettes from his third uncle. He gave a cigarette to his youngest paternal uncle, and they started smoking together. He asked, “Uncle, what is your plan? Do you really plan to work in Donghai?”

Zhang Guoqiang lost his joking smile and inhaled his cigarette fiercely. He said, “Yes. I can only be engaged in this if I want to be the top.”

Zhang Jun became silent. He remembered that three years ago, Zhang Guoqiang became extremely depressed after graduating with a master’s degree. Later Zhang Jun knew that Zhang Guoqiang broke up with the campus belle who had been his girlfriend for many years. That campus belle finally married a man who lived in Jingdu and was born in the purple with right and wealth. She just left Zhang Guoqiang with a heartless figure.

Zhang Guoqiang was depressed for half a year because of this, until later he had to find a job to help Zhang Jun pay the tuition at university. He was undoubtedly excellent. Even if he just found a job casually, he became a manager with a monthly salary of eight or nine thousand yuan.

Obviously, that love affair changed Zhang Guoqiang’s outlook on life. He was determined to start his official career and be a high official. After Zhang Jun graduated, Zhang Guoqiang began to prepare for becoming a civil service worker. He finally stood out with the highest score from more than 3,000 candidates and was admitted successfully.

“Uncle, I support you.” After a long time, Zhang Jun said such a sentence, flat but sincere.

Zhang Guoqiang grinned and rubbed Zhang Jun’s hair vigorously, “Zhang Jun, your dad has paid too much effort to bring me up. Even just for him, I should be a great man, motivated and extraordinary!”

Zhang Jun grinned, “I know you are smart and have a desire to excel. I believe you will succeed.”

“Stop sucking me up. The flattery won’t make me give you a bonus.” Zhang Guoqiang laughed, “I decided to sell the house in Qinghe and leave some money for your marriage. In this way, I will not feel worried when working in Donghai.”

Zhang Jun quickly waved his hands and said, “Forget it. Just now, my mom said you might buy a house in Donghai and planned to save some money for you. If you give us money, do you think my mom will accept it?”

Zhang Guoqiang was moved and said with emotion, “I feel I cannot repay my brother and sister-in-law for their kindness in my whole life.”

“Well, stop talking nonsense. Hurry up bringing a beauty home to be my aunt-in-law, and this will be the best thing that makes my mother happy.” Zhang Jun joked about him.

Zhang Jun and Zhang Guoqiang were chatting, while the third aunt began to wipe her tears, holding Lu Hongmei’s hand and saying, “Sister, I did wrong at the time and said so many hurtful words. Forgive me, please.”

Lu Hongmei sighed, “OK, don’t talk about the past. Your brother-in-law and I have never blamed you.”

Yi Zhu became happy, and she said, “Sister, Zhang Jun went to visit us yesterday and brought a lot of gifts. I didn’t mean to offend him but said something wrong at that time, and my words made him unhappy. Sister, please talk for me in front of Zhang Jun, and I will apologize to him in a moment.”

Yi Zhu’s behavior in the past two days had completely overturned her usual impression on people. Lu Hongmei was almost numb, and she even didn’t think it was strange. She just said, “Zhang Jun is just a child, and you don’t need to apologize to him. It is unnecessary.”

But Yi Zhu insisted on apologizing. Lu Hongmei could do nothing with her and finally she called Zhang Jun over. She said to him with a poker face, “Zhang Jun, did you bother your aunt when you went to your aunt’s house yesterday?”

Zhang Jun felt disapproved, but his expression was sincere and horrified. He quickly lowered his head silently, like a child who made a mistake.

Yi Zhu waved her hands repeatedly, “No, it’s my fault.” She took Zhang Jun’s hand, “Zhang Jun, I did something wrong yesterday. Don’t be angry. Now I apologize to you, and can you forgive me?”

Zhang Jun twitched the corner of his mouth and glanced at his third uncle. His third uncle grinned complacently and seemed to be saying, “How is it? I didn’t brag yesterday, did I?”

Zhang Jun sighed in his heart, and the grievances that had accumulated in his heart gradually dissipated. He said, “Aunt, don’t say that. You are my elder, and how can I be mad at you? It was my fault yesterday that I shouldn’t have just left so impolitely. I hope you and my third uncle would not be mad at me.”

At this time, Zhang Jun’s third uncle finally spoke. He laughed, “That’s right. We are a family. How can we be mad at our family members? Yi Zhu, Zhang Jun forgave you.”

Yi Zhu burst into tears for pleasure when she heard it. She always desired to excel over others, but she had to be obsequious to please her junior in the past two days, which brought her all sorts of feelings. She felt that she should not have been so mean to the family of her husband’s sister in the past few years.

Everyone had kindness in their hearts, and sometimes they could realize at once.

After having dinner together, Yi Zhu and Lu Hongmei watched TV in the living room, while others went to the balcony for tea and chat.

Lu Jianjun said, “Zhang Jun, please speak for me in front of Mr. Shang. If I can receive the order from Morning Sun Group, I can earn more money each year for at least tens of millions yuan.”

Zhang Jun nodded, “No problem.”

Zhang Guoqiang was surprised and asked, “Zhang Jun, do you even know Shang Yang, such a important person?”

Zhang Jun smiled. Holding the tea cup, he said unhurriedly, “Uncle, I also know the Mayor of Donghai City and the Director of Personnel Bureau, and we have a good relationship. If you bribe me now, maybe you can be promoted from a small member to the section chief in the Personnel Bureau.”

Zhang Guoqiang curled his lips and said, “A genius like me can get promoted even without pulling some strings.”

After joking, Zhang Guoqiang still attached great importance to the information disclosed by Zhang Jun, and he said lightly, “Zhang Jun, help me make an appointment for a meal with the Director of Personnel Bureau whenever possible.”

Zhang Jun smiled, “OK.”

Zhang Guozhong felt a little hard to see through his son now. Zhang Jun knew not only a big businessman but also senior officials at the ministerial level, and he even won a lottery of five million yuan. Was Zhang Family going to enjoy a real purple patch?

After thinking for a while, Zhang Guozhong coughed, and his face was full of seriousness. So everyone closed their mouths and were ready to listen to his instructions.

“Zhang Jun, it’s not a bad thing for you to get to know officials and nobles on this trip. But you have to remember that you can only do what you can do and never reach for what is beyond your grasp.” Zhang Guozhong said earnestly.

Zhang Jun nodded quickly like chicken pecking rice. He replied, “My dad is so wise. I will remember.”

Feeling that Zhang Jun was still joking, Zhang Guozhong just slapped him heavily. Zhang Jun immediately became serious.

“Zhang Jun, take it seriously. In fact, there was also a great man in our Zhang Family. Unfortunately, the great man did things according to the ancestors’ instructions and caused something, which led to our Zhang Family’s languishing.” Zhang Guozhong said.

Upon hearing this, everyone was curious. Zhang Guoqiang asked, “Brother, what kind of a great man did we have in the Zhang Family?”

Zhang Guozhong inhaled his cigarette and exhaled a long smoke, and then he said slowly, “The Mayor of Majia Town.”

……

The Editor Has Something to Say: Dear readers, sorry to tell you that we decide to drop this novel and not update it anymore.